Russian attack on Ukraine kills 4 as US chastises Moscow for ‘escalation’ amid peace talks
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Russia has launched a second major drone and missile strike on Ukraine in four days, officials said Tuesday, targeting the power grid again amid worsening temperatures in US-led peace efforts as Moscow’s attack on its neighbor approaches the four-year mark.
Russia shot down about 300 drones, 18 missiles and seven missiles in eight locations overnight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media.
One strike in the northeastern Kharkiv region killed four people at a postal depot, and several hundred thousand families were without power in the Kyiv region, Zelenskyy said. The attack in Kharkiv also injured 10 people, local authorities said.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said Monday night’s strikes caused the biggest power outage the city has experienced so far. More than 500 residential buildings were left without central heating on Tuesday as the daytime temperature was 12 C.
To cope with the situation, friends and relatives gather in those apartments with power or hot water, at least temporarily. They charge their phones, take a hot shower or drink a warm drink.
Klitschko ordered the city to provide one hot meal a day to residents in need. He also announced that the city’s water, heating and road maintenance workers will receive bonuses for working “day and night” to restore critical infrastructure.
Russia tried to deny Ukrainian citizens heat and running water during the winter during the war, hoping to weaken resistance to Moscow’s all-out offensive, which began on Feb. 24, 2022. Ukrainian officials have described the strategy as “weaponized winter.”
Meanwhile, Russia’s defense forces shot down 11 Ukrainian planes overnight, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.
Civilian deaths to rise by 2025: UN mission
The major attack came days after Ukraine and its allies reported major progress on a peace deal to end the war, although Moscow has given no public sign that it is willing to back down from its territorial claims and reject Ukraine’s membership in European alliances. Russia also criticized the US seizure of an oil tanker last week, part of the Trump administration’s pressure campaign on oil exports from Venezuela.
On Monday, the US accused Russia of a “dangerous and inexplicable escalation” in hostilities as it tries to advance peace talks.
Russia used a new hypersonic missile to strike western Ukraine as a clear warning to Kyiv’s NATO allies. This is the second time this missile has been used in the war that has been going on for almost four years. CBC’s Briar Stewart explains.
Tammy Bruce, the US deputy ambassador to the United Nations, told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council that Washington condemns the “shocking number of casualties” in the conflict and condemns Russia’s aggressive attacks on energy and other infrastructure.
Ukraine called the meeting after Russia was bombarded overnight on Thursday by hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles, including the powerful, new hypersonic Oreshnik missile, which Moscow used for only the second time.
Bruce reminded Russia that almost a year ago it voted for a Security Council resolution calling for an end to the conflict.
“It would be good if Russia matches its words with actions,” he said.
Russia’s UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the Security Council that until Zelenskyy “comes to his senses and adapts to the practical conditions of negotiations, we will continue to solve the problem militarily.”
“He was warned a long time ago, every day he spends, the conditions of negotiations will be bad for him,” said Nebenzia.
Last year was the deadliest for civilians in Ukraine since 2022, according to a Monday report from the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, as Russia strengthens its airstrikes behind the front line,
The war killed 2,514 civilians, a 31 percent increase from 2024. More than 12,000 were injured, the campaign said.
“The sharp increase in protracted attacks and the concentration of national energy infrastructure in Ukraine means that the effects of the war are now being felt by civilians far from the front line,” said Danielle Bell, head of the UN agency, in a statement.
A coalition of allies in Ukraine is planning post-war strategies, as Britain and France pledge to put troops on the ground in Ukraine if the conflict ends.
But the alliance wants some US security guarantees in that case. The Financial Times reported on Tuesday that the leaders of Britain, Italy, Germany, France and Canada, as well as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, plan to discuss the issue with Trump and Zelenskyy at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland next week.
The Times quoted three officials briefed on the plans who spoke on condition of anonymity.
